Preview: Stanford brings high-powered offense to Montlake

A week after getting lambasted by Arizona, Washington will face another ranked opponent as 13th-ranked Stanford comes to Husky Stadium on Saturday.

A year ago, Stanford laid a beating on the suddenly ranked Huskies, who were coming off their upset of USC. This year, the Huskies limp into the matchup after losing by 30 the Wildcats on the road last week.

Stanford no longer has running back Toby Gerhart, who gashed the Huskies defense for 200 yards in 2009, but quarterback Andrew Luck has stepped into the role as the leader of the offense.

The sophomore has lived up the hype built by his impressive freshman year, tossing 19 TD’s through seven games while completing over 65 percent of his passes for an offense that scores over 42 points per game.

Luck has his pick of receivers, highlighted by leading receiver Doug Baldwin. Five different Stanford receivers have gained over 200 yards and nine different receivers have caught a touchdown pass.

Although Luck has taken over as the face of the offense, the Stanford running game is still going strong.

The Cardinal, who rank 15th in the nation in rushing yards, are led on the ground by Stepfan Taylor, who has 624 yards on the season and has rushed for over 100 yards in four straight games.

The real trick to the Stanford rushing success comes from their offensive line and overall rushing attack that allows for dominant clock management. The Cardinal feature a rushing attack that grinds down defenses with consistent yard-gaining runs mixed in with the occasional big play, which could be a problem for a Husky offense that ranks 102nd in points allowed.

Defensively, Stanford has been prone to allowing some points this season, as opponents are averaging over 24 points against the Cardinal D. That number is skewed by the fact that Stanford scores more points than all but four teams in the nation, but the Cardinal have given up 35 points per game over the last three, including 28 to WSU last week.

“They do a really good job up front,” offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said. “They jump in and out of some odd stuff and they do a really good job with their personnel, giving you a bunch of different looks.”

Washington is getting back wide receiver Devin Aguilar and offensive lineman Erik Kohler, but quarterback Jake Locker is still suffering from bruised ribs and a thigh bruise. Locker said this week that is he feeling healthy, but he appears to have been limited during recent games.

Stanford is the third in a string of four ranked opponents the Huskies will face off against. So far UW is 1-1, but a nearly flawless effort will be needed to overcome the Cardinal, whose only loss is to top-ranked Oregon.